St. Petersburg, known as St. Pete, offers everything from tropical weather, arts and culture, shopping, dining, sports, and lots of outdoor recreation opportunities in the sunshine. There are so many great things about the town, including the many museums in St Pete. St. Pete’s stunning shoreline includes some of the nation’s top-ranked beaches.
St. Pete is synonymous with sunshine, averaging a staggering 361 days of sunny days per year. With over 1,000 annual special events and festivals, including the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the St. Anthony’s Triathlon, there is always something to do in St. Pete.
The thriving arts scene features world-famous museums, independent galleries, film festivals, live music, and much more. St. Pete is home to The Florida Orchestra and St. Petersburg Opera. Entertainment venues like the Mahaffey Theater and the Palladium host events all year long. Along with 244 miles of shoreline, St. Pete has about 2,300 acres of public land that includes 137 parks and recreation areas and the third-largest urban waterfront park system in North America.
St. Pete is a growing city with Fortune 500 companies, a booming downtown, and over 100 distinct neighborhoods. St Petersburg College, Eckerd College, and the University of South Florida St. Petersburg are located there. St. Pete is the home of the Tampa Bay Rays (MLB) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) are right across Tampa Bay. St. Pete has three award-winning public golf courses, nine public pools, three skateboard parks, the southeast’s largest municipal marina, and an extensive network of trails and bikeways. There is also a growing number of museums in St Petersburg Florida.
This iconic city is also home to world-class St Petersburg museums. This guide features our picks of the top museums in Tampa St Pete.
Table of Contents
The Dalí Museum | Unique St Petersburg Museum Celebrating Fine Arts
The Dalí Museum is the most popular of St. Pete’s museums. The facility showcases the collection of the masterpieces of the eccentric and brilliant surrealist and avant-garde artist Salvador Dalí, as well as honoring his vision, talent, and life, preserving his legacy for generations to come.
Along with the exhibits, as one of the best museums in St Pete, you’ll find plenty of Dalí-inspired events and experiences. With art, archives, and biographical content, the museum immerses you into the world of this extraordinarily gifted and creative individual. Works that span Dalí’s entire career are on display, with over 2,400 works from every medium of his artistic activity, including oil paintings, original drawings, book illustrations, artists’ books, prints, sculptures, photos, manuscripts, and many documents.
Dalí Alive 360° is an immersive experience that envelops you in light and sound within the Dalí Dome – one of the coolest museums in St Pete. In this one-of-a-kind experience, you get transported into Dalí’s surreal landscapes, iconic melting clocks, and mind-bending illusions. The museum includes an Avant-garden, a melting clock on a drooping bench, and a mustache sculpture.
The Mathematical Garden lets you explore the connection between nature and math. The museum store has a wide assortment of Dalí-related merchandise, and Café Gala provides snacks or a light lunch of tapas and other Spanish-inspired fare. You don’t want to miss one of the best museums in St Pete FL.
The Dalí Museum Hours & Location
- Address: 1 Dali Blvd, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 823-3767
- Hours: Open every day from 10 am – 6 pm
Museum of Fine Arts | Permanent Collection of Fine Arts at this St Petersburg Museum
The Museum of Fine Arts includes diverse works from around the world, allowing visitors to experience art in a whole new way right at one of the St Pete FL museums nearby. Of the museums downtown St Pete has to offer, this might be the most popular. It’s definitely the most popular of the St Pete art museums. Black-and-white images of the American West, photographed decades before by famed photographer Ansel Adams, showcase his iconic style and depict moving images of dramatic Western landscapes.
Their unparalleled collection also includes Audubon’s Birds of America, featuring colored prints by famed artist, naturalist, and ornithologist John James Audubon. The fascinating artwork of New Guinea is on display as well. A unique aspect of the museum is the Live Conversation series, which involves the conservation and preservation of art through professional, specialized treatment.
The museum’s extraordinary carved and painted Jain Shrine is a rare object, once used for daily worship by members of the Jain faith. The rich colors were dulled due to time, dust, soot, and the touch of hands. Their collection spans centuries of art history, making it one of the top museums in St Pete.
The Live Conversation effort is working to restore the shrine to close to its original luster. This project allows visitors a unique opportunity to see the conservation process and interact with the conservator, asking questions about treatment, technique, and materials. It’s one of the most engaging programs at all of the museums in St Pete.
The Museum of Fine Arts St Pete also has the perfect backdrop for the holiday season with fun events and a special exhibition. If you’re looking for free museums St Pete has to offer, the art museum does have a free weekend available on the first weekend of each month.
Museum of Fine Arts St Petersburg Hours & Location
- Address: 255 Beach Dr NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 896-2667
- Hours: Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm; closed Monday
The Chihuly Collection | Downtown St Pete Museums With a Stunning Art Exhibition
If you want museums in St Pete Florida, with unique art, you’ve found it. The museum features the visually stunning collection and history of world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly, a pioneer of the studio glass movement. Designed specifically for his art, the building architecturally complements his unique art style. His unique method of creating glass art transformed the medium as can be seen by his complex, multi-part glass sculptures and environmental art that tells many stories.
Many museums in St Pete downplay extravagance, but not here. The entrance to the museum is marked by an iconic 20-foot sculpture created specifically for this site. The collection inside includes some of Chihuly’s spectacular large-scale creations, including the Ruby Red Icicle Chandelier, created specifically for the collection, along with several popular series works like Macchia, Ikebana, Niijima Floats, Persians, and Tumbleweeds.
The Chihuly Museum Hours & Location
- Address: 720 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 896-4527
- Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; Sunday, 12 pm to 5 pm
The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art | One of the Most Popular Museums in St Pete to Visit
There are many art museums St Pete has to offer, though this is one of the best. The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art contains over 400 works of art, including sculpture, paintings, artifacts, and jewelry, displayed inside the museum’s 26,000 square feet of gallery space. The James Museum features art that depicts the peoples, landscapes, and history of the American West, as well as the wildlife of the world. The collection of paintings from 20th and 21st-century artists includes recent works by living Native American artists from the Southwest.
Of the St Pete museums, you’ll find this one is very unique. Along with Native American art, contributions from Euro-American, Chinese American, and other artists add dimension and variety to the James Museum’s galleries and make it one of the best St Pete Florida museums. The hundreds of works on display provide visitors with a vast array of expressive, vibrant, and thought-provoking artwork. Highlights include the Early West Gallery, which features several photogravures, and the Native Life Gallery, depicting Native American life and wildlife art. The Frontier Gallery features several works by Chinese-American artists that represent life as it was for Chinese Americans during the 19th century. You won’t find a larger collection among the museums in St Pete!
The James Museum Hours & Location
- Address: 150 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 892-4200
- Hours: Wednesday–Monday, 10 am to 5 pm; Tuesday, 10 am to 8 pm
St. Petersburg Museum of History | The Best History Museum in St Pete
The St. Petersburg Museum of History provides a trip through the history of the city. The collection includes priceless artifacts, documents, and photographs. The Benoist Pavilion houses a replica of the world’s first commercial airliner, which made the first scheduled commercial flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa on Jan. 1, 1914. Of all the history museums in St Pete, this is one of the most unique.
Other unique exhibits in the collection include a two-headed calf and a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy. Schrader’s Little Cooperstown tells the story of America’s pastime through the world’s largest collection of baseballs. This is one of the best museums St Pete FL has to offer!
St Petersburg Museum of History Hours & Location
- Address: 335 2nd Ave NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 894-1052
- Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm; Sunday, 12 pm – 5 pm
Great Explorations Children’s Museum | Best Museum in St Pete for Kids
Of all the museums in St Petersburg Florida, Great Explorations is one of the top children’s museums St Pete has to offer. It’s a fantastic hands-on museum designed especially for children. Not only is it a fun place to take the family, but it’s also a great learning playground for children through creativity, play, and exploration. The museum has a tot program for children from 1 to 3 years old, as well as programs for preschoolers and children with special needs, so all children can have fun and learn at their levels.
A to-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex made entirely from recycled scrap metal awaits you in the parking lot. Inside, the exhibits are divided into large, themed rooms filled with sight, sound, or touch exhibits. The touch room features the “Touch Tunnel,” a 90-foot-long pitch-black tunnel that encourages children to navigate it using only their sense of touch. If you want museums in St Pete where kids can be kids, this is the place to be.
Great Explorations Children’s Museum Hours & Location
- Address: 1925 4th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33704
- Phone: (727) 821-8992
- Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:30 am to 4:00 pm; Sunday, 12 pm to 4 pm
The Florida Holocaust Museum | Important Museum in St Petersburg for History
The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory of millions of innocent men, women, and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. One of the largest Holocaust museums in the country, the museum was founded by St. Petersburg businessman and philanthropist Walter P. Loebenberg, who escaped Nazi Germany in 1939 and served in the United States Army during World War II.
The 27,000-square-foot building houses one of the few remaining railroad boxcars like those used by the Nazis to transport Jews and other prisoners to places like Auschwitz and Treblinka. The History, Heritage, and Hope exhibit features original artifacts, videos, and photos of the Holocaust that depict life under antisemitic and Nazi rule. Dimensions in Testimony is a unique exhibit that allows you to have interactive conversations with Holocaust survivors and other witnesses to genocide using pre-recorded interviews to bring the survivors to life.
The project integrates advanced filming techniques, specialized display technologies, and next-generation natural language processing to create an interactive experience. It’s one of the most historical museums in St Pete.
The Florida Holocaust Museum Hours & Location
- Address: 55 5th St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Phone: (727) 820-0100
- Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; closed Monday
Map of Museums In St Pete
Check out the top museums in St Pete with this map.
Get Ready For Your St Petersburg Move With 2 College Brothers
St. Pete is at the epicenter of the arts in the Southeast, from street murals to performing arts theaters to stunning galleries. It’s why there are so many excellent museums in St Petersburg Florida. St. Pete also offers residents and visitors many opportunities to enjoy world-class museums that appeal to all ages and backgrounds.
With all these museums in St Pete, you can’t go wrong relocating here! 2 College Brothers is here to help you move quickly and efficiently. Whether you’re relocating locally, moving an apartment, or need help with storage in the Tampa area, we’re here to help. Call our professional St Petersburg movers today at 813-922-1528 to get started on a free quote!
